


Downfall

by Joseikage



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22243234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joseikage/pseuds/Joseikage
Summary: Before Talon, Gabriel Reyes was a highly respected Commander in Overwatch. As Talon rose, he wanted nothing more than to take them down. So, what changed his mind?
Kudos: 2





	Downfall

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Blizzard or its characters; just this story :)
> 
> Hello everyone! This is the first story I've posted here on the Archives. I wanted more Reaper/Reyes backstory, so I impatiently came up with an idea of my own. Hope you all enjoy it!

Gabriel Reyes hated the doctor’s office with its white walls, its boring décor, and its cold, unfeeling ambience. He never trusted doctors either. Well… save one, Dr. Angela Ziegler, but even she could be very guarded and cold; always quick to keep secrets and reveal the truths later. Much too late.

The doctor came in, smiling, bumbling about with his papers and issuing Reyes a hearty greeting.

“Come on, Doc. Just get on with it so I can go back to work,” the stubborn soldier growled impatiently.

The doctor sighed, turned off the lights, and put Reyes’ imaging results up on the board. “Alright… so you say you’ve been having blackouts, dizziness, loss of memory. Well this is attributed to…”

As the doctor spoke, Reyes’ mind began to spin.

_Has all of this been for nothing? I’ve served this country most of my life, and this is what I get in return?_

He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and flipped it open to the picture of his wife and baby son. He was away, serving his country as he always had when she gave birth. She tried to call, but as usual, Reyes wasn’t the one who answered. It was the office zoned to his location. He was on a highly classified mission, helping rid the world of Null-Sector Terrorists. The morale was at an all-time low and the fighting was rough. Reyes wasn’t sure whether he would live or die.

He panted heavily as he leaned up against a car and looked over it at the two Null-Sector bots that loomed nearby. One turned and scanned the car he was behind, but Reyes was quicker. He ducked down just as a red beam of light passed over the car. Satisfied by the lack of life readings, the two Omnics stomped away.

“Damn tin cans…” Reyes cursed under his breath, checking to see just how much ammo he had left.

There were two clips on his hip, and five bullets left in his right gun. He quickly emptied the five bullets before reloading both guns with his final clips. He sighed and closed his eyes as he rested against the car. He was waiting for backup, or rather, hoping for it. His entire team had been ambushed, and he was now the sole survivor. He glanced around warily after his breather and noted the location of eight different Omnics.

 _If I can destroy them and make it back to the Overwatch base, then I can at least set up some sort of defense…_ He thought, forcing himself to his feet.

To make matters worse, his comm systems had gone down during the fight with the Omnics, and he could only receive messages. Reyes scanned the area, analyzing every single detail down to the smallest pieces of rubble. The Soldier Enhancement Program had made him a tactical machine.

After the scientists and geneticists, led by Dr. Angela Ziegler and Dr. Moira O’Deorain, had completed their work on him with the SEP, they sat Reyes down and had him watch many different videos containing fighting styles that had not been taught to him as well as tactical plays on the warfront. Then, they put it into practice, testing him with written, verbal, and physical examinations. He exceeded all their expectations and had been an even greater success than Soldier 76, Strike Commander Morrison.

However, as he stood there, analyzing the situation at hand, he didn’t feel like a success. He knew the odds of him making it out alive, and they weren’t great. He groaned, clutched his guns in his hands, and looked behind him at the bodies of his fallen teammates. The nearest one to him had used twin shotguns, just like him, and there was plenty of ammo leftover for them. He attached the clips to his utility belt and then stared down at the young man’s face deep in thought.

_He was only eighteen… Out here in the middle of war at eighteen years old._

Reyes reached over, collected the fallen youth’s dog tags, and ran his hand over the boy's face to close his eyes. Then, he stood up, collected the rest of his teammate’s dog tags, and wrapped them around both of his shotguns.

“Alright, Omnics… time to rust,” he growled, moving forward to the first attack point.

A beeping in his comm systems stopped him in his tracks. He pushed the button on it and received a visual file with the subject:

“KEEP FIGHTING, HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”

He scoffed and almost didn’t open the file.

_You send kids out to battle with me to die horrible deaths and expect to uplift me with a damn message?_

Even so, he opened it, and as soon as he did, his eyes widened, and his heart melted.

As he memorized every detail of the photo of his precious newborn son and beautiful smiling wife, the death surrounding him no longer phased him. Tears rolled down his face and he took several stifled breaths as he closed the file and stared ahead of him. He wiped his face with his right arm, narrowed his eyes, and tightened the grip on his guns. Then, heart pounding, teeth bared, and sweat dripping down his face, he charged into battle.

_I will see them again._

He ambushed the first Omnic. The second turned and fired at him, but he was quicker and sent a well-aimed shot into its head. The rest of the Omnics overheard the commotion and rushed over to assist their fallen companions, but one by one they all fell.

_I will hold my son in my arms._

No longer was he fighting for revenge, but for new life.

He had finally made it back, held his son, overcame all obstacles before him, and now… he sat in the doctor’s office with a man who offered him no hope.

“I’ve seen this before… the evidence wasn’t conclusive enough for the scientists involved in the project to actually declare it a pattern and take preventative action, but this is a probable side effect of the SEP, The Soldier Enhancement Program. Your brain is declining at a much faster rate than normal and you have several brain lesions in certain areas. I’m sorry… you have a little over a year to live…” The doctor finished.

Reyes clenched his fists as he fumed in rage. “So, they knew about this?”

“Well, I mean the data was there, but the evidence wasn’t conclusive enough to—”

“I get it. Just release me for duty. I want to work,” Reyes interrupted, jumping off the exam table and throwing the door open.

“Wait, where are you going?” The doctor demanded.

Reyes turned and glared at the small man, shoving his wallet back into his pocket. “To see my primary care physician,” he growled as he slammed the door behind him.

As soon as he was back on base, he stormed into the medical bay and leaned against the wall, tapping his foot impatiently. Dr. Ziegler was treating a patient for a wound they had sustained in the training practices. Finally, she sighed and glared over at Reyes.

“What do you need, Commander?” She asked.

“Oh, I just wanted to talk. It’s been a little bit since we last spoke. You know how busy things can get,” he said casually, smiling at her.

She eyed him suspiciously. “Very well, you can wait in my office and I’ll see you then.”

“Well, I may also need an exam… If you’ve got the time,” he added.

She groaned and nodded. “I’ll see you in my office.”

“Ahh!” The man on Dr. Ziegler’s table yelped as she applied the disinfectant on his wound.

“Bitte… Jemand rufen die Wam-bulanz! Toughen up, soldier!” She scoffed, dressing the wound and walking towards her office.

Reyes chuckled. He always did like how no-nonsense Dr. Ziegler was. _But why wouldn’t she have warned us of this…?_ He wondered as he walked into the office.

He looked over at a picture of all of them together. _Morrison, Oxton, Ziegler, Winston, Torbjӧrn, Reinhardt, Shimada, McCree, myself, and Amari._

“Back in the good ole days…” he reminisced with a sigh.

Dr. Ziegler walked in after him and motioned to the leather exam table against the wall. He sat down and she pulled her chair away from her desk and set it in front of him, leaning back in it and crossing her legs.

“So, what’s going on commander?” She inquired, smiling brightly at him.

“I’ve been having these… headaches recently. Think you can see what’s causing them?”

Her smile faded and she nodded seriously at him, pulling a small device out of one of her pockets. A blue light emanated from it as she waved it around his head and scanned him. Then, she plugged it into her computer and looked over the results, her expression changing to a look of concern.

That was one thing Reyes was counting on. The doctor was great at keeping things confidential, but her face always revealed when she was doing so. “So, what’s my prognosis, doc?” Reyes demanded.

“Well, it appears you have some… brain damage in certain regions. Have you… hit your head recently?”

“No, I haven’t. Have you seen anything like this before?” He pressed, searching her eyes.

“Yes, but I can’t be certain until I have more data. I’ll need you to come in for more tests in one week so I can compare the results.”

“But… you have a good guess as to what it is, right? Let’s hear it.”

Dr. Ziegler shifted in her spot uncomfortably but played it off well, smiling as she replied, “Commander Reyes, you know I don’t make guesses. Guesses get people killed. I rely on what the science tells me. I mean… it could be build-up of head injuries over the years from active duty, or even… dementia! I highly doubt it’s dementia, but even so, I need to wait for more information so I can give you a certain answer.” She turned back to her computer and began typing in the information and looking closer at the brain scan.

Reyes was still looking for a specific tell, so he pressed her further. “Speaking of brain injury… you hear about the terrible side effects that some of the veterans of the Soldier Enhancement Program are getting? Apparently, they’re even dying, but scientists are saying that the correlation between the illnesses and the SEP doesn’t exist because there’s not enough evidence to support it.”

Dr. Ziegler’s typing stopped momentarily, and Reyes saw her mouth part slightly before she answered, “That sounds awful! I haven’t heard anything about it, but I will let you know if I find anything pertaining to your results.”

Reyes frowned, knowing full well that she wasn’t telling the whole truth. “Sure, doc,” he answered, walking out of the room.

Dr. Ziegler sighed as she turned and watched him leave. In truth, she hadn’t _heard_ about what Commander Reyes was telling her; she had seen it firsthand.

From there on out, Reyes avoided Dr. Ziegler’s office like the plague. He instead focused on his duties and carried on as usual during the day. Afterhours, he searched far and wide for a cure to his ailment but was unable to find anything. Then, the unthinkable happened: he had gotten complacent and ignored the possible threats he detected.

As he had walked past the mailperson, a chill ran down his spine. She was a nice, average-looking woman but something about her made him stop and look back at her for just a moment. It had happened before with random people who looked odd or were out of place; it was a side effect of the SEP. He dismissed it as such and continued walking along with Gérard and McCree.

The three of them talked a big game about taking down Antonio Bartalotti, the man who had organized the attack on the Overwatch base in Oslo. Even so, Reyes doubted the plan as he walked out of the building with McCree at his side. A high-ranking businessman like Bartalotti would be able to just walk right out of Overwatch custody in no time flat.

One minute, he and McCree were laughing and joking about how he met Gérard, and the next, the building they had just left exploded, showering the two of them with flaming debris. Reyes pulled Gerard’s body out of the flames and rushed him to safety.

“Just in time,” he was told, “If it hadn’t been for you, he would not have made it.”

_I should have known this would happen. I should have detected it sooner._

Then, another thought came over him.

_Maybe it was an inside job…?_

He shook his head quickly. “No… can’t be…”

After visiting Gerard in the hospital, he went to help Morrison line flags on the caskets of the fallen.

 _Too many…_ He thought as he placed another flag.

 _By the book isn’t working…_ Morrison wouldn’t see things his way, but Reyes didn’t need him to. He was a dying man with nothing to lose.

When he finally stood in front of Antonio and pulled the trigger, a strange sort of relief filled him. Dr. O’Deorain was intrigued, McCree was appalled, and Shimada was approving of his actions as they escaped together.

In the interrogation room, they kept repeating the same question.

“Why, Reyes?” Morrison barked for the tenth time, trying to get an answer out of him.

Finally, Reyes’ glittering eyes snapped up to Morrison’s and he responded angrily, “Because you would just sit there on your throne and watch as Talon takes us out one base at a time. By the book wasn’t working. This did.”

After another round of yelling, Morrison shook his head and sighed heavily. “Reyes, I have no choice here. My hands are tied. You’re confined to desk duty until we can sort this mess out.”

“Whatever you say, _Commander,_ ” Reyes growled as he stormed out of the interrogation room.

He sat down at his desk, put his elbows against his knees and slumped over, staring at the ground deep in thought. His eye twitched as another headache tore through him.

“Can I be of some assistance to you, Commander?” Dr. O’Deorain asked him from the doorway of his office.

He looked up with a scowl at the red-haired scientist. He always got a bad feeling about her, and he figured that in her case, the SEP heightened instincts were on the money. “What do you mean?” He demanded in annoyance.

“Well, it appears as though you’ve only got four months left to live. I can help you, if you’d like,” she tempted.

He gaped for a moment before his eyes narrowed. He bared his teeth and quickly rose to his feet. “Where did you get that information?” He demanded.

“From the good Doctor Ziegler’s computer. I walked by to ask her about some things when I saw it on her screen and couldn’t help but realize what it was, and… _who_ it affected.”

Reyes let out a low growling sigh, sat back down at his desk, and leaned against his elbow in thought. “What’s the catch? There always is one.”

“Well, for starters, you would have to agree to experimentation.”

“Of course. Next.”

“Secondly, before I begin the work on you, there are some people I would like for you to meet.” 

Reyes raised his eyebrow curiously, but she offered no explanation. _Probably some geeks from the science community…_

His communicator beeped in his ear and he checked the messaged. _Another reminder from Ziegler to get checked out in her medical bay…_ He gritted his teeth angrily as he remembered her dishonesty.

“Alright, doctor. Take me to them,” he commanded, turning back to O’Deorain.

She smiled devilishly. “Grand.”

The two of them met up at a very high-class restaurant. Reyes was surprised that Dr. O’Deorain was able to get in. They were let into the back and told to head upstairs. _I must be meeting some prestigious members of the scientific community…_

What he didn’t realize was that he would actually be meeting Maximilien, a known member of Talon. As he walked into the darkly lit room to face him and two other members of Talon, he whirled around and snarled at Moira, “You’re the traitor? And now you’ve led me into a den of snakes! You’ll pay for this…”

He hadn’t seen it coming. In truth, he always thought the doctor was a bit strange and had questionable ethics, but never traitorous.

“I think you’ll find yourself quite at home in this… ‘den of snakes,’ if you’d care to listen to what we have to say, Commander Reyes, and if you decide you don’t like what we are offering you, you may leave in peace,” Maximilien declared, inviting him to have a seat across from him.

Reyes eyed the Omnic, the young girl with the short brown and red hair, and the man with the large, metal fist, warily as he sat down further away from them. “Speak quickly and don’t waste my time,” he commanded angrily.

“I like that. Time is money after all,” Maximilien hummed in his smooth, sing-song tone of voice. “Sombra, show him the evidence, won’t you? Ah, this is our new recruit, Sombra. Her hacking abilities are the best in the world.”

The girl with the brown and red hair stood up and smiled cheekily. “My pleasure,” she replied, raising her right hand and typing on some holographic keyboard.

Suddenly, a large, purple holographic web spread out into the room, and she selected the key bit of information she was looking for. “Gotcha…” she murmured, pulling it to her and expanding it.

Reyes stared blankly as he reviewed the information and began putting the pieces together. He shook his head in disbelief and repeatedly demanded to see more proof. Each time, Sombra would casually type on her holographic keyboard and use her pointer finger to flick the information into the air so Reyes could read it. Finally, the man with the metal fist walked over and placed his Human hand on Reyes's shoulder.

"You can keep asking to see proof, but is it not already right there in front of you? It is time to stop living in denial and face the truth," he barked before returning to his seat.

_They knew… They knew all this time…_

There were plenty of confidential articles, several photos, and a video that all confirmed the same thing:

“Overwatch is merely using you for its own gain. They have known about your condition, and have turned a blind eye to it. To them, you are merely a pawn. Nothing more, nothing less,” the man in the white suit with the metal fist continued. “However,” he leaned forward, resting on his normal arm, his eyes lit up in a mixture of adamancy and determination, “to us, you are a real asset.”

Reyes stared at all of them with narrowed eyes for a moment before he pulled out his wallet, flipped it open, and stared at the photo of his wife and son.

_If I go this route, I sacrifice everything…_

“I am Akande ‘Doomfist’ Ogundimu, one of the higher-ranking officials in Talon. Tell me, what will it take to get you to join our organization?”

Reyes stared for a moment longer at the picture before turning his gaze back on Doomfist. “Nothing. I won’t join you,” he stated.

Several months later, Reyes was on the job when the pain in his head worsened to a degree he hadn’t anticipated. His blood pressure skyrocketed, and he collapsed, leaving everyone with questions but no answers.

“Can you save him, or not, doctor?!” Commander Jack Morrison was demanding, pacing back and forth in her office as Reyes’ heart monitor beeped.

“I… I can’t… There’s too much damage to his brain and…” She let out a sigh and shook her head sadly.

He let out a cry of rage as he reared back his foot, kicked over a table, and stormed out of the room.

“Jack…” Dr. Ziegler murmured after him. She stared down at Commander Reyes guiltily. “I could have saved you…”

A few nights later, Commander Morrison and Dr. Ziegler stood together in the medical bay as they prepared Gabriel Reyes’ casket.

“Identity of Overwatch Commander Gabriel Reyes confirmed. Time of death: 12:32 am,” She spoke softly with a wavering voice into a recorder.

Commander Morrison closed the casket and gently placed a flag over it, straightening it out.

“Cantankerous old fool…” He murmured, stepping back in line with Dr. Ziegler. “I’m gonna miss you. Things won’t be the same at Overwatch without you… Honestly speaking, I think… that Overwatch died with you. It was an honor serving with you, Gabe, and a pleasure knowing you.” He placed an Overwatch insignia on top of the casket and saluted.

Angela stepped forward. Her lips trembled and her shoulders shook as she suppressed a sob. “Maybe if I had told you… you’d still be—”

“No, Angela," Commander Morrison interrupted, "don’t go blaming yourself for something that’s not your fault. You know that was confidential information. I tried to warn Gabe that if he didn't stop going rogue, there would be repercussions. In this case... the government decided he wasn't privy to information regarding the side effects of SEP or the treatments because he was a liability."

He stopped and shook his head guiltily, wondering if he had done the right thing by keeping the information from him. It was his duty, but Gabe had also been his closest friend. "Either way, the current treatment needed to revert the side effects of the SEP is still highly experimental, not to mention dangerous. He’d have been in a ton of pain. He didn’t need that in his life. Not after all he’d been through.”

The doctor sighed and chuckled lightly, shaking her head. “Anyways, I spent years watching over you, Gabriel. Maybe now, you’ll watch over me as well.” She wiped away the tears that threatened to spill down her rosy cheeks and placed a Lily on his grave. “I’m surprised McCree did not come,” she murmured sadly, crossing her arms.

“He’s long gone. Took off shortly after the Venice Incident… I’ve been trying to track him down to let him know about Reyes, but… no luck. To make matters worse, there’s still a bounty on his head,” Morrison said, pressing his fingers to his forehead, deep in thought. "If he had just finished the rest of his enlistment, I could have wiped his record! Kid would've had a clean slate." He sighed deeply and hung his head.

Dr. Ziegler put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure Jesse will be okay,” She soothed him.

Morrison sighed and smiled half-heartedly at her before they walked towards the exit. "Yeah, he sure is a tough bastard and if Reyes is watching over him, look out," he joked, "Damn though, he really lived up to that belt Reyes got him when he first joined up."

Dr. Ziegler laughed heartily, but was distracted by the security camera twitching strangely in the corner of the room. She squinted up at it. “Do you know, what’s wrong with the security cameras? Mine have been acting up, but I heard that sector eight and thirteen have also been experiencing issues,” she inquired, pointing up at the wayward camera.

“I asked tech. They said they’re doing some maintenance on certain areas to improve things. They should be up and running by tomorrow,” Morrison answered her with a shrug as the door shut behind them.

“Hmm… How quaint,” Dr. O’Deorain remarked as she stepped out of the shadows. She walked over to Reyes’ casket and a smile crept over her lips. She lifted the casket lid and shoved it over to reveal his resting body.

“I think this is the most relaxed I’ve ever seen you, Commander. A pity I have to wake you,” she joked, pulling a small device out of her sleeve and hooking it up to his chest, head, hands and feet. When she pressed the button, bright yellow streams of energy flowed into his body, and it was simultaneously jolted with electricity.

“So far so good…” She said, staring at a blue holographic screen that popped up in front of her. “Reverting the damage and putting the body in stasis.” She placed her left hand on his chest and a bright yellow stream of light flowed into him.

Reyes’ eyes flashed open and he sat up, gasping and coughing. “Calm yourself. Take deep breaths. Your body is still reawakening and… getting used to being alive again.”

The bewildered man hacked and spluttered as he tried to gain his bearings. Finally, his breathing began to normalize.

“Do you know who you are?” She asked when he had mostly calmed down.

“I’m… Commander Gabriel Reyes of Overwatch,” he declared.

Dr. O’Deorain chuckled loudly. “Not anymore, you’re not,” She corrected him.

His eyes grew wide with confusion for a moment and he searched his clouded memories as he tried to figure out what she meant. Then, he remembered the fateful meeting with Doomfist, Sombra, and Maximilien, and his eyes narrowed with surety. “Right.”

As he had sat in the dark room, Reyes stared down at the picture of his wife and child before turning his gaze back on Doomfist and standing up, ready to walk out the door. “I won’t join you,” he stated. All he could think about was the example he would set for his son if he joined Talon.

Reyes started for the door, but Doomfist had a proposition. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking about the family you’ll be leaving behind.”

Reyes’ hand closed around the doorknob.

“Well, it’s true that you’ll be leaving them if you join us, but tell me this: How much time will you have with them if you stay? You haven’t got much time left at all, but we can give you more. Men like us though? _Soldiers_ like us? We can’t have families,”

Reyes twisted the doorknob now,

“but we can have other things that we desire. You and I are the same, Reyes. We weren’t meant to simply take orders; we were meant to reach out and take what we wanted,” Doomfist explained.

Reyes’ hand froze, and he listened intently, waiting for Doomfist’s offer.

“It’s high time you got what you wanted, Reyes, and Talon can make it happen. So,” he got up and paced the room, looking expectantly at Reyes, “what is it that you desire, Commander Reyes?”

Reyes turned back around and eyed all of them warily at first, but then something inside of him churned; a bestial rage that threatened to consume his very soul. He glared at Doomfist in determination as he walked back over and placed his hand down on the table.

“Revenge.”


End file.
